Building momentum: Howard’s 19 points lead Cowgirls past Richland

PLANO, TX – With the start of District 6-6A play looming, Coppell’s girls basketball team wanted to get as much positive momentum going into its Dec. 8 opener against state-ranked Plano as possible.

The Cowgirls accomplished that Tuesday night.

Junior forward India Howard poured in 19 points and senior Chloe Hassman contributed 16 points, leading Coppell to a 61-40 rout of Richland.

Coppell (3-3) head coach Ryan Murphy said sophomore Waverly Hassman (nine points, six assists) did a great job of pushing the ball in transition.

“We did a good job of using our size advantage against Richland to work the ball inside,” Murphy said. “We were strong on the glass on both ends of the court.”

Tuesday night was also Senior Night for Coppell due to the uncertainty with COVID-19. Grace Gilbert, Chloe Hassman, Emma Sherrer and Elena Zatkalik were recognized as part of the festivities.

On Nov. 28, Coppell was unable to overcome 23 turnovers as well as a 20-11 fourth-quarter run by Winnsboro in a 70-59 home loss. The Lady Raiders finished with 23 points off turnovers compared to 12 for the Cowgirls.

Coppell trailed 36-30 at halftime then string together a 17-14 in the third quarter to cut that deficit in half, but in the fourth quarter, Winnsboro pulled away for the 11-point win.

The Lady Raiders finished 9-of-27 on 3-pointers and attempted 15 more free throws than the Cowgirls – Winnsboro went 13-of-21 at the charity stripe, compared to 5-of-6 for Coppell. The Cowgirls made eight 3-pointers.

Waverly Hassman paced the Cowgirls’ offense with 23 points on 8-of-14 from the field and also grabbed five rebounds. Her older sister, Chloe, tallied 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Sophomore Allyssa Potter contributed eight points, followed by sophomore Jules LaMendola with seven.

Coppell hosted Colleyville Heritage on Friday before Plano, No. 5 in Class 6A by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, rolls into town on Tuesday.

“We have to do a better job in transition and hopefully we can play well against Colleyville on Friday night and have momentum going into district play against Plano,” Murphy said. “Plano is one of the top-ranked teams in the state and we are going to have to be playing our best basketball going into that game.”